Update #2: DREAM EP Sasahara is aiming at a 15% TV ratings. He said that he still has a trump card, today’s announcement isn’t everything. Is the card really complete?

Update #3: The semifinals and final will not take place on the same day. The rules for the tournament are not set yet but expect shorter fights (why?!) and no knee strikes to the head of a grounded opponent.

Below is a quick summary of what is happening in the clip, thanks to Sherdog forum members robbyp & dudnaito.

First guy: Wow, you’re pretty good. Why not take on my friend too?

Second dude in blue: Sure.

First guy: Just wait a moment.

(A bunch of the blue dude’s friends come in the ring)

Friend #1: Hey, you looked really cool!
Friend #2: Hey, who is he going to bring? What if he brings a really good fighter?
Friend #1: It doesn’t matter, our guy is almost a pro! He is going to beat up anybody that comes out! Who’s he going to bring? FEDOR?? LOL!!! (pronounced hyo-dor-ooh in korean, you can actually hear it).

The Pancrase card on June 7th, which already features fighters such as Satoru Kitaoka, Yukio Sakaguchi, Ryo Kawamura, Yukiya Naito, and Seiya Kawahara, has got another big name added to the card. It was announced today that SENGOKU’s Choi Mu Bae will face Katsuhisa Fujii. Two other fighters from Bae’s Team Tackle have also gotten fights on the card which already consists of 16 fights and is not even complete yet.

The exhibition was three minutes long. Below is a rough summary of how it played out. Remember that it was just an exhibition, they weren’t seriously trying to rip each others limbs off.

Fedor took Aoki down and showed some ground and pound motions. Aoki got back to his feet and went for a flying armbar which he then turned into a leg submission attempt. Back in standing position Fedor took Aoki down for the second time. Aoki went for an armbar from guard but Fedor lifted him up and dropped him on the mat.

The match went back to standing position where Fedor threw a right high kick. However, Aoki went for a takedown which was successful. Fedor answered and immediately got back to his feet after disrupting Aoki’s balance on the ground.

Fedor took Aoki down once again. With 40 second left, Aoki threw off his jacket and got fired up, screaming “Oraaaa!”. Aoki threw a right hook and tried taking Fedor down but Fedor ended up on top. Fedor went for a leg with lightning speed which ended the match as Aoki tapped from an achilles hold. At the same time, the gong sounded as the three minutes were up.

Aoki was very respectful afterward, telling a joke, saying it was a good experience and asking the crowd to give a big round of applause to Fedor. Fedor said that he didn’t think there were such strong fighters like this in the Lightweight division. He expressed some respectful words to Aoki and thanked him.

There is a second article up on Sherdog with WVR PR Kokuho. He said some interesting things like:

We don’t want to wave money in front of their stars just to bring them into our ring. We’d rather have a good relationship with the indie promotions in order that fighters can move back and forth between them and Sengoku. By coming to Sengoku, they’re already bringing their fans to our shows, so when they return, we feel that they will be able to bring back more fans who have watched them in Sengoku. It’s one of our ways to give back to these promotions and try to keep them profitable enough to stay around.

Our aim is not to gather everything under one umbrella. Shooto will remain as Shooto, and Sengoku will remain as Sengoku. But to come together and all work together, I think that is great.

This year onward, we need to make progress, making the event better than last year, of course, but we also need to keep in mind how to make a profit. Luckily, starting from Sengoku “No Ran [2009]” in January, we began to make a profit.

I thought it might be interesting to check some ticket sales of events and maybe compare them in the future. Pancrase is selling out quick despite the card being over a month away. The SENGOKU event is also doing good. Shooto is completely sold out.

There are three levels (sold out, few left, and remaining) of the ticket amount left and they are from three different sources.

Update #1: Fedor’s Manager Vadim Finklestein said that they are aiming at Fedor fighting again in July or August. He will probably face a top 10 opponent. He said that they are also negotiating with a Japanese organization so there is a chance that the summer fight could be in Japan.

DREAM EP Sasahara, who was present at the press conference, said that while there are many hurdles to cross he would like to negotiate for Fedor to fight in DREAM on July or August and also on NYE. Since the Affliction staff is also in Japan he feels that this is an opportunity to negotiate.

Update #2: It seems that Aoki didn’t get much attention. He was sitting at the side with a frozen expression. The rules of the fight are still not set.

Update #3: Fedor started serious training with his team for one week before this (and probably his visit to Korea). However, it is mainly in preparation for the summer fight rather than the exhibition with Aoki.

Update #4: Fedor said that he has seen some of Aoki’s fights and he thinks that Aoki is one of the strongest fighters. Receiving this praise, Aoki said that he’s happy and also embarrassed. When Aoki saw Affliction’s Tom Atencio (who was present at the press conference) he jokingly said: “If you give me an Affliction t-shirt I will fight with all of my might”.